Time after time this season, Georgia Tech hasn’t been able to pull out close wins.
The Yellow Jackets did exactly that Wednesday night, nipping Wake Forest 71-66 at McCamish Pavilion.
Senior guard Marcus Georges-Hunt scored a career-high 30 points and passed a Tech legend in the process, and guard Adam Smith made a big 3-pointer with 1:29 to play to help the Jackets prevail.
In a battle of two struggling ACC teams looking for a spark in the month of the season, the Jackets capitalized on 16 Wake Forest turnovers to snap a three-game losing streak.
Tech turned it over five times in the first eight minutes and surrendered seven layups, as Wake Forest jumped to a 24-13 lead. Hunt rallied the Jackets back, scoring 11 of his points in the first half.
“There was a lot of good basketball from a lot of different guys,” Tech coach Brian Gregory said. “You have to get that first one to get some momentum, so tonight it was very, very important for us do that.”
The win caps a three-game homestand for the Jackets (13-11, 3-8 ACC), who travel to Clemson at Florida State, before returning home to host Notre Dame on Feb. 20.
Forward Devin Thomas led Wake Forest with 20 points and eight rebounds for the Demon Deacons (10-14, 1-11 ACC), who have lost nine in a row.
Here are five observations from the Tech win:
His night: Georges-Hunt scored the Jackets' first seven points and moved past Kenny Anderson into 16th place on Tech's all-time scoring list with his eighth 20-plus-point performance of the season. Georges-Hunt made 11 of 15 shots and made all seven of his free-throw attempts, including four consecutive in the final 30 seconds to seal the win. Georges-Hunt's previous career-high was 27 in a loss to Virginia Tech in January.
Smith's big shot: The graduate transfer missed his first seven shots, but came off a series of picks and didn't hesitate on a 3-pointer from the right wing that put Tech up 66-59 with 1:51 to play.
“(Georges-Hunt) had the option to drive it,” Gregory said. “And if they took that away, we have Adam coming off for a 3. It’s a pretty good play for us because we have multiple scorers that can make a plays off of that. Marcus had a really good read. The defense dropped to the baseline on the drive, and Adam was wide open.
Inside force: Forward Charles Mitchell recorded his 13th double-double of the season, with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Led by Mitchell, Tech outscored Wake Forest 48-36 in the paint.
“For good or bad, a lot of times, he’s the heartbeat of our team,” Gregory said. “His energy and intensity level today was where it was so often earlier in the season.”
Mitchell had only two rebounds in Sunday’s loss to Miami.
“That was enough of that for me, knowing that I lead our team in rebounding,” Mitchell said. “I just knew I had to come out and make a statement.”
Close calls: Tech's previous 10 ACC games were decided by an average of 5.6 points, with a nine-point loss to Duke the largest of defeat of the season. The Jackets found themselves in another close one Wednesday, but made enough plays down the stretch to seal the win.
Tinkering Tech: Gregory inserted sophomore guard Tadric Jackson into the starting lineup for the time. It was the sixth different starting lineup Gregory has tried this season. Jackson finished with two points.
About the Author
